New Orleans: The Long-Term Demographic Trends

The City of New Orleans is frequently portrayed as an urban center that underwent great changes following the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and much of the attention given to the city has dealt with its revival and reconstruction following the storm. But what has been ignored has been the long-term decline in the population of New Orleans. If this view is taken, New Orleans is currently about where the population would have been expected to be even without Hurricane Katrina's damages to the community.